Wrong adress
by https-fern
Summary: When Sirius Black received a packet mistakenly, he had no idea it would turn his life upside down until he met the neighbor from across the hall: the owner of the box he had been keeping for weeks. [Non-magical AU]
1. Chapter 1

There are some perks of living alone, that's the thought that lived inside Sirius' mind every single day of his life. He didn't have to tell anyone where he was going or when he was coming back. He could stay up as late as he wanted to without worrying the fact that his mom would come down the stairs and scold him, but most importantly, he could have anyone over.

It was late. Way past 11 in the morning when light footsteps made their way into the wood floored room, the sound being muffled by furry socks. From the bed, Sirius Black snored, oblivious to everything that was going on around him, his mind lost in a deep slumber provided by the eventful evening he had had.

He didn't feel when the mattress dipped beside him nor when small hands wrapped around his shoulder, shaking him relentlessly until he mumbled something under his breath and opened his eyes, looking around the room and finding green eyes staring right back at him. With a low chuckle, the grown man pushed the covers aside and sat up.

"How can you be up already?" he asked in a hoarse tone, his hands running over his face trying to get rid of the sleep. "What are you made of? Energetic drinks?"

From the other side of the bed, Harry Potter smiled and shook his head, controlling himself to not bounce on his legs as he waited for his godfather to finally be awake.

"There was someone at the door," he said. "And I know you said I shouldn't answer the door to strangers, but I thought it was my mom and dad."

Sirius looked at the young boy with an eyebrow up. He had hoped to God it wasn't James and Lily, 'cause if they found out he was sleeping while Harry was running around the apartment, he sure as hell would be in a lot of trouble.

"Who was it, then?" he asked as he made his best attempt of getting up, his body worn out after looking after an electric 7 years old. That was one of the reasons he didn't want kids, to begin with.

"The mail," Harry replied with a shrug. "They left you a big box." He completed and ran out of the room, his hair sticking up everywhere. "And I'm hungry!"

Rolling his eyes for what felt like the hundredth time ever since he accepted babysitting Harry for the weekend, Sirius stretched his back and finally got up from the bed, his face marked from the pillowcase, and made his way to the living room, worried to find a messy place from all the time Harry had spent on his own.

The scene before him, though, was the same one as the night before. Yes, there was a pizza box on the coffee table and plastic cups lying around, but beside that, everything seemed to be organized and all that Harry had moved, was the blanket on the couch he was using to cover himself as he watched cartoons.

Smiling to himself, Sirius made his way to the bathroom, splashed some water on his face and brushed his teeth before looking at his own reflection, gathering some courage to resume his duty as a babysitter and making breakfast without burning the whole place down.

After what felt like hours, Sirius had cleaned the living room, made the bed, washed the dishes and prepared something edible for Harry and himself. He was feeling quite accomplished and happy with himself, sure he could handle this life for a few more hours. He didn't realize, however, how grateful he would be for James and Lily to arrive until they walked through his front door, catching their attention and making Harry run to his parents with a big smile on his face as he told them everything uncle Padfoot and him had done to entertain themselves.

And while Black watched the family reunion happening in his living room, his eyes finally caught sight of the packet that was delivered for him this morning, his mind totally neglecting it as he took care of his godson. Now that he was somewhat free, his curiosity took the best of him, leading his feet to the kitchen table, his hands ripping the paper to shreds and opening the lid, his eyes scanning the contents in the box, widening as he took in everything in there.

"Oi, Pads," James said with a smile as he approached his best friend. "Thank you for – What the hell is that, Padfoot?" James bellowed in shock, his face contorting in a sadistic smile as he tried to control his breath.

Sirius couldn't understand what was going on. Was that some kind of joke James and Remus were playing on him? He wasn't expecting any kind of order and, somehow, there it was, sitting in his table. Of course he wasn't going to ask for any of that stuff. Those were sex toys and, by the looks of it, a lot of them. Some he hadn't even seen his entire life.

"What's going on?" Lily asked walking up to the two of them after seeing James roaring with laughter and Sirius dumbstruck. She was far used to them pranking themselves, but she had hoped it would stop as they grew older. Obviously, she was wrong and as soon as her eyes landed on the inside of the box, her face grew redder than any other time. They had gone way too far. "James Potter, I cannot believe you would do something like that when our son is around!"

For the first time, James had stopped laughing and shook his head, regaining control of his action and declaring he had nothing to do with it and if Sirius was into that kind of stuff, she shouldn't mock his interests, for they were all a family and should have each other's back. Lily, however, shook her head and told them to grow up and stop with these kinds of jokes as Harry was just a kid before finally letting them resolve their situation.

James, in a serious tone this time, said he didn't have anything to do with that, leaving Sirius exasperated, wondering how in the holy hell that box ended up being delivered in his house.

For the next few days, Sirius couldn't get the packet out of his mind. There were some weird looking things in there and he had no idea how to return it to its owner. Sure, he could just throw it out and forget something ever happened, but he was curious. Curious to find out who was the person behind that order. It had to be someone from the building, right? They couldn't have messed up the deliver that much, but he couldn't go around asking everyone if they had ordered a packet full of sex toys. The old lady from the second floor already didn't like him for all the girls he had been with the past few months and he didn't want to add anything else to her list of 'why should we order Sirius Black's eviction' she presented each month to the other residents.

It was only two weeks later he finally got his answer. His day at work had been exhausting and all he wanted to do was get home, take a shower and sink down on his couch, having nothing to worry about, but, for the second time that month, the elevator was out of service and the only way to reach his apartment on the seventh floor was by taking the stairs. Throwing his head back and huffing, Sirius made his way to the upper level shaking his head. He had to move out of there.

Around the third floor, he heard a voice he didn't recognize coming from behind him, its owner pissed off, each step adding to the angry tone she was using.

"It's been three weeks!" she said and he could imagine her rolling her eyes. "The shipment said it would be in my house in one week. How does that not mean you're late?" there was moment of silence. "Listen, how can you tell me it was delivered if I didn't get anything? It was pretty big box, there's no way you could have misplaced it... You know what? If I don't get my order until tomorrow, I'm suing all of you. I don't care if anyone finds out what was inside of it. I just want the things I paid for!"

As soon as the call ended, Sirius smiled. Finally everything made sense. A few days before the weekend he took care of Harry, someone started moving to the empty apartment in front of him. He had never seen who it was, but the landlord had told him it was a young single woman.

With a smirk on his face, Sirius rushed the rest of the way up to his apartment, the door flying open as he made his way to his room, getting the box and darting to the hallway just in time as a blonde head emerged from the stairs, her face contorted in a scowl.

"You must be the new neighbor," he said making her turn her face to his side, her expression changing to a softer one. "Those stairs are a killer, huh?"

The woman just smiled and walked up to the man. He was the first welcoming person she had met since yesterday.

"You tell me," she said and held out her hand greeting him. "Marlene McKinnon."

"Sirius Black," he answered shaking her hand. "I heard you had some trouble with the mail...?"

Marlene let out a low chuckle and explained to him how she was expecting this packet she had ordered and asked to deliver in her new address, but somehow they had misplaced it and now she had to deal with it.

"Yeah, those things happen," he said with a shrug, his hands extending the box he was holding. "But, fortunately, they didn't mess up that much and well," he sighed. "I'm sorry for opening it, but you gotta understand I thought it was for me."

Marlene McKinnon didn't know what to do. She opened the box with her heart beating wildly and when she saw everything that had in there, her face went pale and she refused to meet Sirius' gaze. She had lied on the phone when she said she didn't care if anyone knew the contents of the box. Of course she did. Of course she didn't want anyone to know about it, even less the hot next door who was now looking at her with a smug smile on his face.

With a low thanks and rushed feet, she made her way to her apartment, slamming the door closed before Sirius could say anything else.

From his side, Sirius smiled and shook his head, already planning his next meet with the woman next door and what to do to make her forget all about that box. Or, perhaps, bring it over.

* * *

 **Why hello my lovelies!**

 **Here am I with this simple fanfic that started out as a drabble, buuuut... My mind decided to come alive and come up with a lot of story, which brings us here, on my first chapter.**

 **Yes, it's kinda short, but I promise (and hope) it will get better!**

 **Love you all!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Call her right now!" Marlene heard her boss screaming, his voice loud enough for her to hear it from the other side of the line, his secretary taking a deep breath.

"You heard the man," she mumbled before hanging up, letting Marlene curse under her breath as she got up and walked to the end of the hall, her feet dragging, as she thought about anything that could have happened since the moment she walked in the office that morning. She wasn't late, she turned in all her reports in time and not only had she attended the press conference the mayor had held to announce the new budget but also her question was answered. What on Earth had she done wrong for her boss' shouts be so loud on a Friday afternoon?

The door to his office was opened and as soon as he saw her in front of him, his red face turned to her, his eyes squinting, deciding whether he killed the journalist that moment or gave her another chance.

"You called?" she asked in a small voice, fumbling with the hem of her sweatshirt in an attempt to hold back her rage. She did not need to lash out on the middle aged man in front of her. She had bills to pay and a life to live. She needed that job.

"What the hell do you think this is?" he asked without looking up, his eyes scanning his table looking for something in the messy glass top, papers scattering to the floor. "This… This article you sent in." He continued as he found a piece of paper, his hands kneading it. "Did I tell you to write about the budget?" he asked again, his face redder and his eyes barely open. "Did I?"

"Well… you told me to cover the press conference. That's what it was all about." She said taking a step closer to the man, her heels clicking against the linoleum floor, her face determined. He was not going to put her down this time. She had done the job beautifully and if he thought he could do better than that, he could get his fat ass out of that chair and attend the event himself.

The man took deep breaths and crossed his arms, his face clearly showing he didn't like the way this conversation was heading or the way she was talking to him. He was the one who held her career in his hands and having Marlene defying him wasn't something she would be let out so easily.

"If I wanted to talk about the budget," he started leaning closer to her, his tone a little above a whisper, in an intimidating way. "I would have printed the press release, McKinnon. I wanted you to pull the mayor out of his ass and ask him about the increasing number of homicides going on because he cut in half the police budget. That's what I wanted!"

It was the college years all over again. It was like having a teacher shouting and telling her what she should have done. It wouldn't matter if she said they weren't answering any other question, it wouldn't matter if she told the mayor's press officer looked at her in a way she was scared for her life when she mentioned the rate of deaths going up. To those who stayed sit behind a desk all day and just shouted whenever something didn't go the way they liked, she wasn't doing much of a job when, in fact, she was working a lot harder than them.

"And what the hell happened to that assignment about the Prime Minister?" he shot once again.

"It fell," she mumbled. "He cancelled the event five minutes before it started." Marlene explained. She was tired of having people questioning her job. She knew her boss wanted to find something wrong to blame her, but he couldn't. She had worked very hard to get where she was and no one was going to take it away from her. "Look, I did everything that was assigned to me. The press conference didn't have room to ask about the homicide rate. I tried, everyone tried, but they didn't answer any question leaning slightly in that direction." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and ran one hand over her face. "I spoke to some people in the city hall, working directly with the mayor. Of course I couldn't write their names, but it's there. Just read it a bit carefully and you'll see it."

The tension in the room dialled down. Marlene saw the man's face relax as he continued reading the paper in his hands, her story finally talking about what he wanted, with unofficial sources, of course, but it was a start. It was enough to start some noise and enough to make him dismiss her with a wave, not even looking at her as she made her way out of the office and out of the building. She really needed the weekend off and no one would talk her out of it.

The way home took a lot more than she expected. The chaotic traffic at six in the afternoon consumed every little bit of energy she had left and by the time she got to the building she lived in, Marlene remembered the elevator still was out of service. Almost two months since she first moved in and nothing. Maybe she should ask for a rental review, she thought as she made her way up the stairs, her legs pushing harder against the floor. She lived on the seventh floor, for crying out loud. On the bright side, she could skip going to the gym.

As soon as she entered her apartment, Marlene let a deep breath, content with the fact that she had survived another week in that newspaper, in that city. She was betting everything she had to accomplish her career and, so far, she wasn't feeling so good about it.

Letting her mind wander to the good times she had had, the young woman made her way around the living room, disposing her clothes on the floor as her feet led her to the bathroom: her need to take a long and warm bath was getting the best of her. That was how Marlene McKinnon was going to start her weekend, followed by warm pyjamas, hours of television and no connection to the outside world. This weekend, she was dead to everyone.

The evening had started out greatly and it seemed like the perfect ending to an awful day; the water in the bath was hot and there was some music playing on the background. It would only be better if she had some wine to go with it, but Marlene was in great need of running to the market. She closed her eyes and sank a little further down, the water level going up without spilling to the ground, and sighed. She was starting to feel relaxed already.

Marlene didn't know how long she was in there, but when the water turned a little cold, she made her way out of the bathroom, a big bathrobe wrapped around her, and walked into her room, going through piles of clothes until she found the comfortable pyjamas pants she loved the most and some oversized t-shirt, slipping them on and throwing herself on her bed, a content sigh escaping her lips.

For a moment, she thought she was so tired she had closed her eyes, but when she noticed the faint light coming from the moon outside her window, Marlene McKinnon knew she was awake. The music she had playing had stopped and the light that was supposed to come from the TV in the living room was off. All around, she could see it was way too dark outside and with a groan she got up and tried the switch only to prove herself right. The energy had gone down.

Cursing, the blonde walked into the living room, her hands feeling around the place trying to find her phone forgotten on the coffee table. She pressed the home button; nothing. The device was dead and she didn't have any candle or flashlight to guide her way through the apartment. Asking for one of her downstairs neighbours would be too risky since the hallway had no windows to the outside. It was at that moment that she realized the only help she could ask for was in front of her, someone she had tried avoiding ever since the mail incident two months ago.

Marlene decided that if she was going to have to ask any favour from Sirius Black, she might as well embrace it and push down all her pride and little embarrassment. So what he had seen the inside of that box? She was a grown single woman living on her own. If anything, he was just some uptight young man who thought it wasn't a normal thing for women to have.

Inhaling and exhaling a few times, the blonde walked to the hallway, leaving her door open in order to let some natural light shine her way to the door in front of her. Her hand balled in a fist and she knocked a few times before hearing feet stumbling from the other side and mumbled curses as furniture were kicked.

"Marlene McKinnon," said the young man as he opened his door, a easy smile playing on his face. "It's been a while."

She tried to say something back, she really did, but he looked like one of those guys from teen shows, sweatpants hanging low on his hips, no shirt and hair sticking up everywhere. Wasn't there any kind of law preventing someone from looking so good wearing so little?

"Sirius, hi." She finally said after a few moments, her eyes going up to his face and not daring to move anywhere else. "I'm sorry. I'm just wondering if you have any spare candle? My phone is completely dead and I forgot to do the grocery shopping." As she spoke, his smile never faltered, not even a little bit and Marlene cursed herself for being so weak when it came to astonishingly good looking man.

"I've only got one." He said pointing to the lit candle in his hand. "But you can stay over, if you want to, until they do something about it."

The invite sounded so sincere she couldn't make herself deny it. It wasn't like she was scared of the dark and the moonlight coming through her windows were good enough to see a little bit, but Marlene found some kind of comfort being able to interact with someone else when the lights were off. She had a highly creative imagination, so being alone wasn't that good.

She stepped into his living room, the front door still opened and granting perfect access to her apartment, not expecting what she saw; his furniture were modern, but without the black leather couch every single man seemed to have. Instead, she saw a decently sized TV hanging on the wall, a small coffee table and a sofa-bed. There were a few cups lying around, but other than that the place seemed well organized.

"I was about to have some tea. You want some?" he asked catching her attention, walking into the kitchen, turning the oven on and putting the kettle to heat.

"Ah, sure." She said back, still confused with everything she was saying. She had spent a lot of time judging him after the first time they had met and now she realized how wrong she was.

A few minutes later, Sirius walked into the living room, two hot mugs in his hand. After offering her one, he sat down and motioned her to do the same. A bit out of place and not knowing how to act, Marlene sat on the armchair on his right, blowing some air into the steaming tea before taking a sip, her shoulders relaxing.

"Tough day?" he asked noticing how her expression changed to a stress-free one. Her plump lips genuinely smiled for the first time since she walked in.

"You could say that, yeah." She took another sip. "Ever been scolded by your boss only because you did your job so correctly something had to be wrong?"

"Countless times," he said with a chuckle, his lips pressed in a thin line. "No one said working at a newspaper was easy, right?"

Marlene's eyes widened. How did he even know where she worked? Her expression must have alarmed him, because before she could ask anything, he shook his head a few times.

"I read the paper, McKinnon," he said with a shrug. "I've seen your name there."

Her heart slowed down and she was embarrassed. She couldn't believe she had thought, for a few seconds, that he was some kind of crazy stalker.

"Oh," was all she could say while thanking the heavens the energy was off. He didn't need to see her blushing again.

The silence fell around them, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as both of them thought it would be. It was like they didn't have to keep talking to fill the room. They felt at ease in each other's presence, for as crazy as it sounded.

"So… What was the scold about?" Sirius asked after a few minutes, curiosity taking the best of him. He wanted to know more about her, about her job, and he wasn't sure why.

"The mayor held a press conference to talk about the new budget," she started crossing her legs under her. "It's been all over the place because of the cost reduction in all sections. My boss wanted me to, somehow, make him talk about the increasing rate of homicides since he cut in half the police funds. Of course tur mayor didn't utter a word about it, so I had to rely on unofficial sources, which my boss didn't see until I said so." She vented out, moving her hands all over the place and shaking her head, finally getting it off her chest. "He was kind of accusing me of not doing my job properly while all he did was sit behind a desk all day."

She was passionate about her job and everyone could see it. The way she spoke about her day, about the things she had to do and how she naturally did everything she was told to.

"Have you thought about talking to the police?" he asked. "Asking them if they could say anything about it?"

"Yeah," she breathed out. "And they never returned. I don't think they even talked to their 'superiors' as they said they would."

"Maybe I could help you." He said with a smirk, leaving the girl completely confused. How could he even help her?

"You work for the police?" she asked jokingly, rolling her eyes at him.

"Actually, I work for the Minister for Criming and Policing," he said with a shrug. "But my dad is the Commissioner of the Police."

If she had taken a sip of tea at that moment, she would have spat it right back. Not even in her most crazy dreams she would ever imagine her hot neighbor was so well connected. His life style certainly didn't match his position. The simple clothes, the small apartment… Nothing around him would ever tell he was the son of the Commissioner of the metropolitan's police or that he worked for the government. Where did this guy come from?

"Your lack of words astonishes me." Sirius said with a chuckle, his eyes scanning her flabbergasted expression. "What did you think I worked on?"

"Certainly not that!" she exclaimed still surprised, her eyes wandering around. "And of course I had no idea who your dad was!"

Sirius got up from the couch and shrugged, making his way to the kitchen counter, pouring some more tea into his mug.

He was acting so nonchalantly she couldn't believe it. He had just said he had a way to contact the sources she needed to hear to write the best report and shove it on her boss' face as if it were nothing. Well, maybe it wasn't to him.

"And you think he'd help me?" she asked after he came back. She barely knew him, so it was better to not get her hopes up.

"My dad is super cool with it," he said sitting down in front of her. "I seriously think he'd be glad to say anything. He's been talking about this cut in the funds for what feels like forever. No one's happy about it there, so I think he'd talk to you willingly."

Marlene didn't even know what to say. For the first time in what felt like forever, someone had left her speechless and it was none other than Sirius Black, the man who she had embarrassed herself in front of, someone who didn't look at her differently because of whatever was in that brown packet left on his doorstep two months ago.


End file.
